Pakistan: Nowshera Health Centre

Changes Amid Repatriation: Bi-Annual Morbidity and Progress Report January-July 2016

October 01, 2016

Rubina Mumtaz

Summary of Activities

Update on Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Situation

The government’s stance on IDPs was always immediate attention and provision of IDPs’ basic necessities while displaced, with the ultimate goal of voluntary and safe repatriation to their homes.

According to the latest Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) repatriation reports of August 2016, a total of 179,174 families have been successfully repatriated back to their homes, leaving behind a total of 124,617 families who are still displaced. According to official sources, the cut-off date for the return of all IDPs is December 2016.

Proposed Changes

Given that the IDP population is reducing, the urgency of the need for a MCH center has lessened, because the government’s health infrastructure is slowly strengthening itself and is getting back on its feet to handle the reduced burden of healthcare demand.

RMF’s Maternal and Child Health Centre (MCH) in Tarru Jabba has two key components that make its services valuable despite the changing face of the situation:

  • It is the only primary level healthcare facility in the Union Council of Tarru Jabba that provides pathology lab services for routine investigations and ultrasound services.
  • By virtue of these two services, patients are referred to our center by other healthcare facilities, including some private practitioners, making this a valuable addition to the healthcare service infrastructure of the union council.

RMF policymakers have decided that we should continue our operations in this area for at least one more year.

Proposed changes have been to include a small token fee for the above two services as well as an OPD consultation fee.

However, given that the average income of the local region is well below the poverty line, these token fees will be subject to only those who can afford to pay.

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Results &

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Maternal and Child Health Centre

Antenatal Visits

A total of 821 women sought antenatal services. A majority have started coming regularly for antenatal visits, citing that they often do not have to wait in long lines for these regular services, as is the norm in government health facilities.

Maternal and Child Health Centre

Postnatal Visits

Only 99 women seeking this service. Despite educating the pregnant women, a majority get busy and do not consider postnatal visits important unless they come across issues with the baby.

Maternal and Child Health Centre

Family Planning and Gynecology

Family planning services saw a downward trend, at only 48 women seeking this service over a 7-month period. About 41 women came for primary and secondary infertility and were referred to tertiary care hospitals in Peshawar. A total of 1,209 women visited the center for gynecological problems.

Maternal and Child Health Centre

Quality Care

The RMF MCH center has significantly improved the access of women and children in the IDP community to quality primary level health care. It has also reached out into the community and is raising awareness of:

  • Hygienic living conditions
  • Scabies-free environments
  • Clean water/food to avoid diarrhea

We also interact and coordinate with local health authorities at the district and provincial levels.

Primary Health Care

Poor Living Conditions and Poor Health

A total of 3,959 of the patients visiting the center also sought primary healthcare services. The range of primary health issues presented is the result of the poor living conditions of patients in this community.

Primary Health Care services saw fewer traffic accidents and made 51 referrals over 7 months. The pathology lab conducted a total of 1,211 routine investigative tests.

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Numbers

Served

A total of 5,938 women and children sought services at RMF’s medical clinic. Of these, 2,890 were women and 3,048 children. The gender distribution among the children was 1,560 boys and 1,488 girls.

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